Our last week in Utah

Monday, August 4

We got the kids together to swim again and of course they all loved it. It's fun to watch them play together and splash around.

Maggie and Camille had lots of fun on the slide...

Cooper not so much!

Lindy had been having a fun morning of holding her stomach and running to the bathroom, so she spent her time laying on the ground trying not to throw up. She made her way under the trampoline and the kids were getting a kick out of looking at her through the holes.

Sadie was just hanging out on the swing talking to the adults.

Mandi reminded me of the enormous and very delicious rice krispie treats from BYU. We set out on a rice krispie hunt on Saturday but none of the three locations where they sell them had any. We even went to the catering department and they told Mandi that they have to have an order placed to be able to make them and they wouldn't be able to do it that day. We were a little sad, but we were going to try again on Monday. When Mandi and Sadie got to mom's house to swim she came out with a big cake box. We were all a little confused as to what she would have a cake for and then when she opened it up...the clouds parted and a chorus of angels sang.

The motherload! Thank you Mandi!

Even Mom couldn't resist the rice krispie cubes.

These are Maggie's favorite "girl's night out" snacks. I think she enjoyed them the most...well besides Mandi curbing her pregnancy craving!

Oh Yes! MMMMMMM!

Tuesday, August 5

We decided to take the day and head up to Park City. Landon and Camille got to come with us and we all had a good time in the cool mountain air. I wish we could have stayed there longer. It was beautiful! When we decided where to park it was apparent that Zoe needed some attention. I changed her diaper and put it in a plastic bag. While I was looking around to find a trash can I asked Landon if I should just leave it in someone's truck. There were a lot of construction trucks and some had their windows down. I told him we should tuck it under the seat and they would have a lovely surprise in a few days. Camille was absolutely disgusted and said "That's Mandi evil"! Hey, Mandi how does it feel to have your own level of evil? We walked up and down the main street and went in just about every shop. We all got some souvenirs and then headed back home. On our way out of Park City we stopped to get some pictures of the hotel that Glenn worked on while he was working for Dad.

Glenn worked on all the window headers. Yeah, he's a stud!

On our way we decided to stop in Sundance and walk around a little while. It was really nice there also. When we walked near the stream the air was nice and cool. At some points it was pretty cold. The kids dipped their toes in the water, but of course it was ice cold so that didn't last long. We tried to stop at Bridal Veil Falls, but since there had been a fire a few days before they weren't letting anyone in the area. At least we could see it from the road.

Zoe, Landon, Camille & Maggie in Sundance

Me, Landon, Camille, Glenn, Zoe, Maggie

Thursday, August 7

We got to go with Mom and Dad to the BYU swim party. Of course the girls had a blast. They had good food, fun games, cotton candy and swimming.

I think Camille liked her burger

In typical Maggie fashion she was too distracted by all that was going on that she didn't eat much dinner.

Zoe loved the watermelon. When she got down to the end she screamed when we tried to take it away. I had to pull out a new tray of watermelon to calm her down. The workers were so busy with other things they didn't notice the tray was empty. I just helped myself and I'm sure everyone around us was ok with it since it stopped the screaming.

Glenn took Maggie to play some of the carnival type games and they came back with cotton candy. Zoe had never seen it before so she was a little apprehensive, but once she got a taste she didn't want to let that go either.

Maggie and Glenn liked it to.

After dinner and cotton candy we finally got to swim.

Zoe was sharing her chips with Landon and then the line of hungry fishes grew!

Friday, August 8

Tanaya, John and three of their children came down from the Salt Lake area to visit with us for a few minutes. Once again the backyard turned into a water park. The older kids started making an obstacle course of all the activities. They would start out in the pool, then go to the swing, up the ladder, down the slide and then over to the trampoline to do a trick. Here they are amazing us with their tricks.

Camille...

Talayna...

Cameron...

Here are the babies doing their tricks...

Cameron

Michael helping Cooper go down the slide. Cooper did not really appreciate it too much. The drop off the bottom of the slide is so big it scared him a bit.

Cooper, Lindy, Tanaya, John, Zoe & Me enjoying the show.

After the Ropp's left and we got dinner over with Starr started doing haircuts. Maggie needed a little trim before school started, but she ended up getting a couple of inches taken off. She wanted to look like Camille.

Of course Sadie didn't want to miss out on all the action. When Maggie was done she climbed up in the chair. We had to find Mandi to make sure it was ok.

Sadie was thrilled. She ran through the house saying "I got my haircut!"

Saturday, August 9
After being up all night packing and searching the house for "leavings" it was time for us to leave. We finalized the packing, met Mandi and Sadie at Arby's for lunch then headed over the Uncle Bill's to visit with him for a few minutes and then off to the airport.

Vacation Update

Monday, July 28
Today we had lots of fun with our friends from Boise that came to see us as their first stop on their 3 week road trip. Kami, a friend we met while attending the University of Houston Branch, and her 4 children decided to venture out on this exciting and memorable road trip while her husband Jon is doing a job that will keep him out of town for a few weeks. I am very glad that Kami is so adventurous and brave. I'm not sure I would attempt such a road trip by myself with four kids. A plane ride with just two kids is plenty adventure for me. While they were here we set up the pool, the slippin' slide and various sprinklers. The kids loved it...except for Gabe. I think he needed just a bit more excitement. We took all the kids (Abi, Gabe, Josh, Noah, Maggie and Zoe) to Carl's Jr. for lunch so they could play on the play land for a while. They had fun and played well together. Mandi and Sadie met us for lunch and then we decided to go to Tai Pan. Kami had heard about it from one of her friends and wanted to check it out. We had fun looking at all the home decor items. By this time the kids were getting a little tired and bored. When we got home from that trip we met the rest of the family at Nielsen's Grove park by Mom and Dad's house to continue the celebration of Camille's birthday. We had a pizza picnic and then the kids got to whack a pinata. The most entertaining part of the evening was watching Justin Milne try to get the pinata hung on a light post by tying a rope to his shoe and throwing it in the air. After several attempts the decision was made to hang it from an archway over part of the sidewalk.

WATER PLAY

Zoe had fun terrorizing Noah. She would pull on his shirt and push him over. He was a good sport though. He only cried when she pushed him face down in the water. This is her pulling on his shirt, getting in trouble for it and then reluctantly giving him an "I'm sorry" hug.

Gabe "enjoying" the pool.

Joshua, Abi, Noah, Maggie

Maggie and Abi had fun seeing who could go the farthest on the slip 'n slide

Our two little water babies...who aren't babies anymore!

TAI PAN

When we first walked into Tai Pan we saw a little booth that sold chocolates and since we were there at the end of the day all their items were on sale. Of course we couldn't resist! Maggie and Abi were pretending to be statues with chocolate in their mouths. Very silly, but they had so much fun together. I guess for two little girls silly equals fun.

NEILSEN'S GROVE PARK

Pizza, homemade ice-cream and a pinata. Could life get any better?

Tuesday, July 29
This morning Camille gave Maggie a pair of jeans that she had out grown and Maggie wanted to wear them. They fit her perfectly and she was just in heaven being able to wear Camille's pants. A few minutes later she came in fully dressed wearing Camille's jeans and Camille's boots and said, "Now I look like a nine year old!" She loves to play with Camille and looks up to her a lot. I am grateful that she is such a good girl and good role model for Maggie.

Kami got here around 11:00 and we let the kids play while we decided what we wanted to do. We finally decided that we would go to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Finally! Something that Gabe was interested in. All of us benefited from Gabe's choice of activity. When we got done at the museum we took the kids to Max & Cheese. It is a really cute restaurant geared to kids and particularly picky kids. When we got done with dinner we had a few more minutes with the Yorgason's and then we had to say goodbye. They are off to their next adventure!

DINOSAUR MUSEUM (THANKSGIVING POINT)

Kami and Noah

Abi, Gabe & Josh

Abi & Josh

Maggie

Landon, Camille, Maggie, Me & Zoe

Gabe, Abi, Kami, Noah & Josh

MAX & CHEESE

Gabe concentrating very hard on those magnets!

Maggie and Abi driving to school.Josh was fascinated by the beads.

Thursday, July 31
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMI! I am so sorry that I didn't tell you that while you were here. "You know I love ya more than my luggage!"

Saturday, August 2
We spent the afternoon at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Grandma, Grandpa, Starr, Landon & Camille went with us. It was a very hot day, but we had so much fun anyway. We took a break to have a cold treat next to the penguins and Maggie decided she was done with her blue Icee. She tried to scoot it across the table to me and it tipped over and spilled on Zoe who was walking under the table. She was a little shocked, but then she seemed to think it was funny. A good time was had by all!

HOGLE ZOO

When our time at the zoo was done Mom, Dad, Starr, Landon & Camille left in Starr's car. I took Maggie and Zoe and we headed to the airport to pick up Glenn. We had spent five weeks without him and we were awfully happy to see our pappy!

After we picked him up we met his sister Lisha and her daughters, Shalis and Shaina, at the Gateway Mall. We had some dinner and the girl's played with Maggie and Zoe on the little rides. After we said our goodbyes to them we let Maggie and Zoe play in the little water park area. Maggie had a blast, but Zoe was a little apprehensive. She would get a little brave and venture out but run back before the water would shoot up.

GATEWAY MALL

Sunday, August 3
Glenn's brother Brent in is Utah getting some additional training before he is deployed to Afghanistan in January. He gets Sunday's off so we were able to pick him up and spend the day with him. We wanted to check out the new Harley Davidson shop in Lindon, but they were not open on Sunday. We had some lunch at Applebee's and then went to Cabella's. We saw all the animals and checked out lots of camping and outdoor equipment. We came home and had a few minutes to hang out before out family dinner. We had Shelly's family, Kayle's family, Starr's family, Ladd's family, Mandi's family, us and Brent. We had a good time visiting and hearing what everyone is doing now. I really miss being able to be here and see all my niece's and nephew's and their kids grow up. We have missed a bunch of family parties in the last five years, but we hope to someday move back and join in on all the fun!